A class-action lawsuit was filed against eClinicalWorks for nearly $1 billion, claiming millions of individuals have compromised patient EHRs stored with the health IT company.

November 17, 2017 - eClinicalWorks has been sued for nearly $1 billion in monetary damages for breach of fiduciary duty and gross negligence following claims an individual died of cancer due to faulty patient EHRs.

Kristina Tot filed the class action lawsuit against eClinicalWorks after Stjepan Tot died of cancer. The complaint alleges Stjepan Tot was “unable to determine reliably when his first symptoms of cancer appeared as his medical records failed to accurately display his medical history on progress notes.”

As the individual legally in charge of Stjepan Tot’s estate, Kristina Tot seeks $999 million in damages.

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“Prior to his death from cancer, Stjepan Tot learned about eClinicalWork’s failure to maintain his medical records in a manner that maintained their integrity,” stated court documents.

The class action lawsuit claims eClinicalWorks was negligent for “failing to provide, secure, and safeguard accurate and reliable health information of patients throughout the United States and for falsely representing that its software complied with requirements for payment of incentives under the meaningful use program.”

The complaint also claims millions of patients with health records stored on eClinicalWorks software have compromised EHRs since eClinicalWorks’ EHR solution did not meet health IT certification requirements set forth by ONC.

“Patients and doctors cannot rely on the veracity of those records,” the lawsuit reads.

Allegations over the legitimacy of eClinicalWorks’ EHR certification first surfaced in May 2017. The health IT company was charged with misleading consumers about the certification of its health IT and paying some customers kickbacks in return for positive product promotion, according to the Department of Justice.

“Every day, millions of Americans rely on the accuracy of their electronic health records to record and transmit their vital health information,” Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Chad A. Readler said in a public statement. “This resolution is a testament to our deep commitment to public health and our determination to hold accountable those whose conduct results in improper payments by the federal government.”

eClinicalWorks agreed to pay a $155 million settlement to resolve these earlier allegations.